There really is no right or wrong answer. The bottom line pretty much seems to be the individual's tolerance to standing in lines. I really don't see it as much of a time-saver. On incoming flights, by the time we get through the lines, we usually still have to wait for our luggage to come out through the carousel anyway. Plus, the shuttle bus will wait for the non-Club Mobay people before departing. On outgoing flights, Couples gets you there early enough that there is still plenty of time to shop and eat after customs.

Personally, we like to use our time shopping at the airport rather than waste that time at the resort, plus it has never taken us more than an hour to get through the lines, so the Club Mobay price isn't worth it for us. Of course, I've never understood the people that pay hundreds of dollars for Timair just to get a couple extra hours at the resort when you could stay a whole extra night for that price. To each their own.

We used Club Mobay recently for the first time and had mixed feelings. On arrival the lines were short in Immigration so it saved us only a little time. Our luggage was among the last ones to show up on the baggage conveyor, so again we didn't same much time. We checked into the Couples Lounge and went next door to the Mobay Lounge, but really only had 15-20 min before our shuttle left for CSS. So overall, the cost benefit was not real great for our arrival. However, any of us who have been to Jamaica a lot of times can tell you that sometimes arrival immigration wait times are terrible and it's not always dependent on the day or time. On lighter days of travel there are often too few stations open and the wait gets long anyway. I will still consider it for future arrivals, but probably only for weekend arrivals during high season. It would be worth it's weight in gold if the place were crazy crowded like it gets sometimes!

Our departure was not crowded either! In fact I am not kidding when I say that there were more people in the Club Mobay expedited line than in the regular lines! I think being in the Club Mobay line actually slowed us down on departure, but that would seldom be the case I think. In spite of that I think we will consider Club Mobay for departure again because we enjoyed our time in their departure lounge. The snacks were good, the drinks were great, it was comfortable, and we enjoyed spending our time there eating and drinking, with decent wifi, rather than sitting out near our gate somewhere or spending almost at much for a burger and beer at Margaritaville.

Big Bob & jchapman we too will be flying in on the 3rd...I believe we arrive at 10:15am. No Club MoBay for us; we are rolling the dice but after the other posts on this topic I will be checking the inbound flights. We are celebrating our 35th anniversary at CSS for a week...counting the days until we arrive.

Big Bob & jchapman we too will be flying in on the 3rd...I believe we arrive at 10:15am. No Club MoBay for us; we are rolling the dice but after the other posts on this topic I will be checking the inbound flights. We are celebrating our 35th anniversary at CSS for a week...counting the days until we arrive.

yeah, we are skipping club mobay too! taking a chance, but if we have to wait an extra hour are we going to let it ruin our honeymoon? NO WAY! hope to see you at CSS sometime that week! we fly in Saturday and leave Thursday. I see where you can check the flight status of the day but see nowhere to look how many planes are landing on May 3rd. if you see it somewhere let me know please!

You can go to the airport website at http://www.mbjairport.com/arrivals on the day of the week you are flying (Saturday) to see all the arrivals and departures for that day. Gotta do it this Saturday - running short of time (a good thing when you're heading to Jamaica). We flew in on Saturday 4/5/14 at 11:12 on JetBlue. No wait at any point.

There is also an app for the Iphone, and I would guess android, called flightstats that I find very helpful, not only for Jamaica but traveling in general. Not to difficult to use, but there is somewhat of a learning curve.

I think the big thing is, go with what makes you feel comfortable. It is your vacation after all. In 8 trips, 6 in February and 2 in October, we have had one wait of 30 minutes on arrival, and the same trip, about the same on departure. We also tried Club Mobay for departure on this last trip just to see what it was all about. It's nice, it's comfortable, friendly staff and service. We were impressed and while we may use it again, we probably won't only because we enjoy wandering around the airport (I am a GA Pilot, so not being able to look out and see plane activity was a bummer). I would tend to use it more on arrival I think if I saw there was going to be a backup, but so far on our flights that has not been the case. Like I said, do what makes you the most comfortable and enjoy it! Is Good Mon!

Big Bob & jchapman we too will be flying in on the 3rd...I believe we arrive at 10:15am. No Club MoBay for us; we are rolling the dice but after the other posts on this topic I will be checking the inbound flights. We are celebrating our 35th anniversary at CSS for a week...counting the days until we arrive.

You'll be okay. I've checked the saturday flight line up. at 10:15, you're not going to have a long wait. But between 10:00 and 12, it's going to get JAM PACKED. one plane after another! but you're close enough to 10 that you shouldn't have to wait more than 30 minutes.

We are also arriving at 11:21 am on Saturday. We purchased Club Mobay. Obviously you never know if it was "worth it" until you arrive but from the looks of it, I think we will be glad we did. If not, oh well. I do have a question about the etiquette of using Club Mobay. Are there ever lines to get to where the rep will see you? Do you skirt around the lines until you see the reps?

I think it's a roll of the dice. We landed on Friday April 18th at around 1:00 PM. I booked Club Mobay for arrival only since we do our shopping at the airport before boarding and we really don't need another drink at that point. There were no lines at immigration but the line for Club Mobay people was about 20 deep. We would have walked right through faster had we not paid the $100 for Club Mobay. But...by the time we were finally at the immigration counter showing our passports, the line was out to the hallway. We had just enough time for one rum punch and we were boarded on the Couples shuttle so for us the gamble did not work out.
We left for home yesterday, April 26th and arrived at Sangster around 9:45. We flew through check in at Airtran and security and we were shopping around 10:15. In 9 trips to Jamaica we never experienced this before. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least.

Flip a coin to decide, you can't be sure if its worth it until you go. For 50% it's worth it, for us in the other 50%, it wasn't.

We're coming from ATL too!

Originally Posted by jchapman

Big Bob... we will be there the same time as you! travel agent says we should arrive around 11:40. coming from ATL. if you see a tall guy and blond girl looking really confused, that's us! first trip to Jamaica for our honeymoon, and first time on an airplane for both of us! yikes... which resort are y'all going to? CSS for us!

Hey jcchapman -- our layover is ATL and it appears we could be on the same flight - we get in at 11:40 on the same date! We are Jason and Jennifer from Wisconsin - hope to meet you! (we're headed to CSA for our 20th anniversary). Safe Travels!

And now, nine days later, we are on the way home. 80 minute drive to the airport (no traffic and a great driver!) It took nearly 30 minutes to check in at Caribbean Air - they only had one person for the entire line - but after that, we never stopped moving and 10 minutes later, we were ordering Nathan's Hot Dogs. Club Mobay? No way.

We arrived on Friday 4/18 at 2pm. The line was starting to go up the ramp and I was kicking myself for not booking it. BUT all the booths were open and the line went quickly, I was shocked. We got to the lounge in about 30 minutes I think, got a beer and off we went. Jim had to make a quick bathroom break!
On the way home, the lines were just as bad for security but I still don't know if we'll ever book it. As long as they have enough staff manning the immigration booths, it's not bad imo.

Hey jcchapman -- our layover is ATL and it appears we could be on the same flight - we get in at 11:40 on the same date! We are Jason and Jennifer from Wisconsin - hope to meet you! (we're headed to CSA for our 20th anniversary). Safe Travels!

good to know miss bliss! Jason and Jessica here from South Carolina! we are headed to CSS but hopefully we can meet and say hello in the Couples lounge. unless y'all are doing Club MoBay? we decided to skip that one.

If I remember correct it was $160 bucks or so for me and the Mrs'. We walked right by the customs line to our own line....the other line was backed up to the ramp. Personal service at the baggage area, and right through every other line, and right to the lounge area. Waited ten minutes to board the bus, I tipped the driver NOT to stop for beers, we were on resort in about 2 hours flat. Well worth the money!! It a vacation for crying out loud, splurge a little!

If I remember correct it was $160 bucks or so for me and the Mrs'. We walked right by the customs line to our own line....the other line was backed up to the ramp. Personal service at the baggage area, and right through every other line, and right to the lounge area. Waited ten minutes to board the bus, I tipped the driver NOT to stop for beers, we were on resort in about 2 hours flat. Well worth the money!! It a vacation for crying out loud, splurge a little!

Well it looks like it was money well spent for you! But what about the other people on the shuttle who maybe wanted to "splurge a little" for a beer on their vacation?

Splurging is different for everyone. And while everyone can decide in what way they want to spend their hard-earned money, I don't think it is appropriate to pay money to take away someone else's rights.

If I remember correct it was $160 bucks or so for me and the Mrs'. We walked right by the customs line to our own line....the other line was backed up to the ramp. Personal service at the baggage area, and right through every other line, and right to the lounge area. Waited ten minutes to board the bus, I tipped the driver NOT to stop for beers, we were on resort in about 2 hours flat. Well worth the money!! It a vacation for crying out loud, splurge a little!

my husband and i were there 2 weeks ago. we arrived saturday april 19th at about 11 50 am....the line of people coming off planes going into customs and immigration was going up the ramp....THANK GOD we had purchased club mobay...! we met some people that were on the same plane as us that were also going to swept away, that arrived to the resort at about 4 pm, and we arrived just after 2 pm all becuase we were taken to the beginning of the lines and had very little wait times....
that being said we also purchased it for departure and it was a great service as well...that airport on departure always seems to be crazy and the people are stressed....theprocess was so easy leaving....go to the front of every line....and go hang out in the lounge...we had a bout an hour and 45 minutes before our flight...so we changed clothes...ate some food...had a couple of drinks...left our luggage with the people at the welcoming desk...shopped...went back and relaxed for a bit....they called for our flight, we collected our luggage...and we went to our gate........it is a service we will never go without ever again........
i get that sometimes people purchase it and it might not be needed depending on how busy the airport is.....but this time around ......WITHOUT A DOUBT, IT WAS WORTH EVERY PENNY...!!!

Not needed for us today! We landed at 10:05, out of immigration by 20 after. There was no line at all. It just took that long to get off the plane and make the long walk. We waited 5 minutes for our bags and had no line for customs so got to the lounge by 10:30. Our driver obeyed the speed limit to a fault so it took two hours to get to CSS. It is awesome as usual but rained hard for about an hour. Now it's clear & hot!

If you don't need it, great! You got to the lounge in 15 - 20 minutes and saved the money. BUT...if you are all excited about getting to Jamaica and the line in Immigration is 2 hours long, and THEN you still have to wait on line for Customs, you may just be kicking yourself for not spending the money. As for departures...so many folks have posted previously "thank goodness for Club Mobay...there was an accident on the road to the airport, I would have missed my flight if it wasn't for Mobay..." Certainly can be thought of as "insurance" just in case.

We've had a variety of arrival experiences from 45min in line to no line (thanks to my husband's freshly sprained ankle). To us though, it's a chance to unwind.

Yes, yes, I know. C&I does not sound relaxing, but we have stressful jobs where it's rushrushrush multitask gogogo and if you're waiting for something, it's a bad thing.

But from the moment that I can see the tarmac, my blood pressure drops, my brow unfurrows, and my heart melts. We giggle and hold hands all the way through the halls. We talk about what we want to do first. Which bikini should I don right away. We people watch and try to spot the first timers. Chit chat. Do nothing. It is AWESOME.

We just got back from CSS. We arrived on Saturday the 26th around noon...we tried the Mobay pass and we are very happy we did!! the lines was STUPIDLY long. all the way back the switch back lines, around the corner, and down the hall. People were saying 3-5 HOURS to clear immigration. we were through in 15 minutes!
Paid for itself right there and we will never go without it again!
I will quote someone from an earlier posting... "Better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it!"